Mechanical toy drive



Sept. 16, 1952 J. PAPAY 2,610,527

MECHANICAL TOY DRIVE Filed Oct. 17, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 ll IIIIIIIIIII Inventor James Papay Sept. 16, 1952 J, PAPAY 2,610,527 MECHANICAL TOY DRIVE Filed Oct. 17, 1949 2 Sl-lEETS-Sl-IEET 2 Inn m'ar I brackets 94.

from a common power source by a mechanism to be now set forth.

Referring now more specifically to Figures 2-5, it will be seen that there is secured to the base member I4 a supporting frame consisting of a channel-shaped member having a base plate 45 together with parallel side walls 48 and 50. Mounted upon the base plate 46 in any desired manner is a further supporting base or frame work for receiving and mounting a prime mover together with a driving shaft connected thereto. This construction as shown in Figures 2 and 3 includes a plate 52 forming a platform upon which a reversible electric motor 54 is attached in any desired manner, the platform 52 has parallel vertical side walls 55 and 53 integrally formed thereon. The motor 54 has an armature shaft to extending between the side walls 50 and 53 and provided with a worm gear M 62 which is constantly in mesh with a pinion gear 64 rigidly secured to a power shaft 86 which extends transversely of and is Journaled in the side walls 56 and 58 in any convenient manner,

' this shaft being provided with abeveled driving gear 08 upon its outer end. Alternative coupling its power from the power shaft 50, possesses both axially slidable and rotational movement, for the purposes, as set forth hereinafter.

Journaled on the shaft I2 for rotation and relative sliding movement thereon are a pair of worm gears I3 and 80 which may be of identical construction, and which are continuously in mesh with a pair of pinions 82 and S4, respectively, which are fixedly secured to driven shafts 80 and '88 which extend transversely of and are 'journaled in the side walls 48 and 50 and are positioned beneath the lay shaft' IZ.

"Rigidly secured to the shafts 06 and 80 for rotation therewith are a pair of drums 90 and 92, which. as shown in Figure 1, may be respective- 1y connected to the cables 40 and 32 for operation of the boom and of the grapple'elements.

In accordance with this invention, the worm gears I8 and 80' are maintained in axially stationary position while the lay shaft I2 is moved axially withnrespect to the worm gears as set forth hereinafter.

To maintain these worm gears in this axially stationary position, a

plurality of laterally extendingbracketsfl are carried by the wall 50, and terminate in slotted or notched recesses 96, which as shown inFigurc '6 are adapted to engage annular groove 08 formed upon the worm gears I8 and 30 whereby the worm gears are free to rotate but are prevented from axial sliding movement bymeans of these These annular grooves are preferably formed upon adjacent ends of the two wormlgears, and the other ends of, the worm gears are provided with recessed bores I which constitute driven jaws which are adapted to be engaged by complementary driving jaws I02 carried by discs I04 and I which are rigidly secured to the shaft 12 and constitute clutch elements movable therewith. Thepositioning of ber will engage either of the worm gears I8 and 00; or either of the clutch members I04 and I00 may be selectively engaged to thereby establish a driving engagement between the worm gears and the lay shaft.

A compression spring I03 encircles the lay shaft I2 and is disposed between the bracket I6 and the clutch'member I00 to yieldingly urge the lay shaft toward the left as viewed in Figure 2 and thereby yieldingly urge the clutch member I 00 into its engaged position, with the clutch member I04 being disengaged. In this position, a direct drive is now established between the motor 54, the power shaft 06, the lay shaft I2, the worm gear 80 and the pinion gear 84 driven thereby, whereby the driven shaft 88 and the drum 92 are rotated. As will be readily understood, one or both ends of the shaft 88 may extend beyond the side walls 48 and 50 and may be provided with any suitable power take-off, such as for example as the pulley III'I indicated 7 in dotted lines in Figure 2.

Similarly, the shaft 8'0 may be extended beyond the side wall 48 and provided with a driving bevel gear II2 thereon which meshes with a corresponding bevel gear II4 formed upon the upper end of a vertical shaft I I6, the latter, as shown in Figure 4, extending through a suitable journal bushing I I8 formed on the support I4 and having a gear I20 at its lower end adapted to mesh with the stationary gear I2. Thus, when the lay shaft operates the driven shaft 86, the latter will, through the gears I20 and I2, cause rotation of the device about the stationary horizontal gear.

As will be readily understood, in order to maintain a driving connection between the driving shaft 66 and the lay shaft I2 despite the sliding movement of the latter, it is necessary that the gear be mounted in an axially non-slidable position. For this purpose, the gear may be con 'structed similar to the worm gear I8 as shown in Figure 6, and may be held in axially stationary position by a laterally extending bracket 94 similar to the construction and operation previously described.-

In order to facilitate the sliding movement of "the lay shaft I2 against theopposition of' the "spring I08, the opposite end of this shaft hasroofthe spring I03, to thereby disengage the clutch I06 and even position the shaft in neutral position with neither clutchIM nor I06 engaged; or to causeengagement' of clutch I04.

a In order to reverse the operation of any of the mechanisms controlled by the gearing assembly, it is merelynecessary to reverse the direction of rotation .of the reversible motor 54, whereupon the lay shaft and its associated elements will be driven in the reverse direction.

It should be here noted that the series of'worm and pinion gear drives are in themselvesirreversible and constitute brakes thus preventing'undesired reverse operation of the mechanisms driven thereby. In particular, since the Worm gears I8 and are restrained against axial movelthese jaws is such thatthe shaft I2 may be so. I ,,'positioned that in the, eventthe clutch memment, the, drums and 92, driven thereby and consequentlythe boom andthe grapple actuated therefrom may be readilylocked in any desired position, so that when the lay shaft 12 is in neutral position .with neither clutch engaged, there will be no undesired reverse actuation of any of the driven mechanisms.

It is contemplated that the mechanism may be motor 54; but it is also possible to operate the same manually as for example, by a manual crank I24 which is secured to the end of the lay shaft I2. Further, the electric motor 54 could be replaced by a spring motor or any other desired power source.

It should be noted that the drums 99 and 92 could be replaced by gears, pulleys or any other operating means whereby various toys or elements of toys can be controllably actuated, In addition, the shafts 86 and 88 could be provided with traction wheels whereby the mechanism could be employed to operate toy trains, trucks or tractors as desired.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to'be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing "specification and accompanying drawings, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described. A cordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the anpended claims. I

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A drive mechanism for toys comprising a lay shaft having means journaling the same for rotary and sliding movement, means for rotating said lay shaft, a pair of driven shafts angularly disposed to said lay shaft, driven pinions secured to said driven shafts and driving worms freely rotatable on said lay shaft and meshing with said pinions, clutch means responsive to opposite sliding movements of said lay shaft for alternately operating said clutches and operatively connecting said worm to said lay shaft.

2. The combination of claim 1, including a spring yieldingly urging said lay shaft into position for engaging one of said clutches and a rotatable head on said lay shaft for moving the latter into the other direction for engaging the other clutch. 7

3. The combination of claim 1, including a spring yieldingly urging said lay shaft into position for engaging one of said clutches and a rotatable head on said lay shaft for moving the latter into the other direction for engaging the other clutch, said rotating means including a driven gear slidably but non-rotatably mounted on said lay shaft, a driving shaft having a drive ing g ar connected to said driven g ar.

4. The combination of claim 1, including a spring yieldingly urging said lay shaft into position for engaging one of said clutches and a rotatable head on said lay shaft for moving the latter into the other direction for engaging the other clutch, said rotating means including a driven gear slidably but non-rotatably mounted on said lay shaft, a driving shaft having a driving gear connected to said driven gear, a pinion on said driving shaft and a power operated worm meshing with said last pinion.

5. The combination of claim 1, including a frame, journals on said frame supporting said lay shaft, brackets carried by said frame, annular grooves in said worm, said brackets having forks rotatably engaging said grooves.

6. The combination of claim 1, including a frame, journals on said frame supporting said lay shaft, brackets carried by said frame, annular grooves in said worm, said brackets having forks rotatably engaging said grooves, said clutch means including collars having driving jaws rigidly secured to said lay shaft, complementary jaws on said collars and worms.

7. The combination of claim 1, including a frame, journals on said frame supporting said lay shaft, brackets carried by said frame, annular grooves in said worm, said brackets having forks rotatably engaging said grooves, a vertical shaft journaled on said frame and geared to one of said driven shafts, a stationary gear, means pivotally mounting said frame for rotation about the axis of said stationary gear and a gear on said vertical shaft meshing with said stationary gear.

JAMES PAPAY.

, REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

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